The 4th and last Sunday in Advent is the day some traditions light the Christ candle along with one of the other four candles; the Hope, the Joy, the Love or the Peace candles. Lighting the Love candle on this day makes the most sense to me. After all, Love is the central element in Jesus’ teaching and ministry.
Regardless of Luke’s account of the first Christmas, the people back then had no idea what had just happened. It wasn’t until maybe as much as half a century later that some people realized what an extraordinary thing that had happened long ago and began to piece the story together. In the process, their imagination ran a little wild at times. Let us face it, there were no angels or wise men. Jesus was just another baby, but as it turned out, not just any baby. He grew up to be perhaps the most influential person in the history of mankind. He repeatedly pointed out how the people, in their quest to follow the letter of the law, totally missed the spirit of the law. The gospel writers’ creative writing even went so far as to call him Immanuel which means God with us in Hebrew. Jesus wasn’t God, but I think he knew God better than anyone before or after. In a sense, he is our way to know God too.
Every religion on the planet has some kind of creation story. In ours, the ancient writers imagined a place where everything could have been perfect were it not for our natural selfishness. Unlike most animals, we have a brain that enables us to override this natural tendency to place ourselves before others. It is the same brain that allows us to forgive others when they stumble. It is the same brain that allows us to work together for the good of all.
All of these things are summarized in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13):
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
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